But the Spurs won their fifth NBA title on Sunday—and first one in seven years–blasting the Heat mini-dynasty into little pieces along the way.

Four blow-out San Antonio victories in five games in this series, and it felt like it was even more lopsided than that.

Which means something, underlines San Antonio’s quiet and enduring franchise philosophy, and maybe points to a saner and more lasting way of doing business.

OK, let’s not go overboard and say this championship proves that any single kind of franchise is superior to every other kind.

San Antonio has done what it has done since the late-1990s mostly because it was lucky enough to draft Tim Duncan and hire Gregg Popovich, and it has added incredible players around that powerful base.

Winning big is always about having great players and great coaching and finding the right moment in time. Always.

The Spurs have had playoff flops and faced tough questions. They’ve gotten older; they’ve been taken down by bigger or more athletic teams in years past.

But they haven’t torn up their foundation, they haven’t run out of patience, they haven’t chased expensive short-term fixes, and most of all, they let Popovich, Duncan and then later Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili carry this as far as they could, year after year.

Then they added Kawhi Leonard a few years ago, and all he did was play LeBron James to a standstill and win the NBA finals MVP at 22 years old.

If you have those guys, you can be patient and you can contend year after year and then strike when everything coalesces.

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Which is what happened this season—calmly, coolly and as confidently as this mild-tempered team has ever allowed itself to sound.
The Spurs’ 15-year run is the ultimate antidote to the current short-attention-span sports universe, really.

And it’s a poetic way to conclude Miami’s instant-gratification bonfire.

The Heat put together the “Big Three”—LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh–in 2010, which was the splashiest off-season “win” of all-time.

It led to the 2012 and 2013 championships, and that cannot be ignored.
Yes, if you acquire the best player in the world and add him to two great players, you can win championships.

But Miami built everything around the “Big Three,” which meant that if one or two of them started to wobble, there was almost nowhere else to turn.

What happened? Wade lost his legs and apparently his desire to run back on defense this postseason, Bosh lost his appetite for inside play, and suddenly the Heat was all about James and only James.

Against every other team in the league, that might’ve been enough to get Miami its third consecutive title.

But against the Spurs, who move the ball so gracefully and who have built their roster with so much balance, All LeBron All the Time just wasn’t going to work.
Of course, the Spurs fell to Miami in the finals last year, famously losing Games 6 and 7 in Miami and causing a summer of anguish in San Antonio.

So how did they react in the off-season?

They acquired Marco Belinelli from the discount bin and re-signed Tiago Splitter after a poor performance against the Heat.

And that’s about it.

The Spurs sure didn’t “win” the off-season, because they knew they didn’t have to; they had Leonard ready to bloom, they had Patty Mills waiting in the wings, and they had that beautiful, flowing offense ready to roll.
This might be San Antonio’s last title with this group, but there’s room for one or two more. Duncan just won his fifth championship at 38; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won his last of six at age 41.

So what happens to Miami? The Heat will have to see what James wants to do—like Wade and Bosh, James can become a free agent this summer.

James didn’t dominate this series, but he realistically shoulders zero blame for the loss. He was great in flashes; his teammates were a constant debacle.

Maybe James will want a change of scenery; I doubt it, but I think he’ll certainly ask for upgrades in Miami. We’ll see if the Heat can provide them.

Obviously, if LeBron publicly weighs leaving Miami, that’d be the biggest story in the NBA. There will be bellows and headlines and predictions about James’ team and the team that “wins” this off-season.

And the Spurs will sit quietly and chuckle; then the season will start, and they’ll just go about moving and passing and defending and winning games, just like always, maybe forever.

Tim, did Miami win two titles and make four straight Finals because of great players and . . . great coaching?

qtlaw88

Great performance by the Spurs; admittedly I have not cheered for the Spurs in the past as much as I should have, what great team play and no superstar ego allowed;

Was Bosh great before? I did not watch closely, he seemed to be close to one, but in the Finals this year, he was just another guy, a tall jump shooter. Splitter had more big D plays than Bosh (hello Wade!)

IMHO the greatness of the Spurs is in watching MIlls and Diaw hit big shots; Steve Kerr, Avery Johnson, George Hill, Dujuan Blair, Scola, being big players for them at one time or another.

Geo77

The Spurs have a great organization, but it never hurts to be a little lucky too. If I remember correctly back when they drafted David Robinson #1 there were some lucky circumstances involved. Then the year they got Duncan #1 they were horrible because Robinson was out all year with an injury. Getting two #1 picks over the years takes a little luck, but getting them the years David Robinson and Tim Duncan are in the draft was very, very lucky indeed.